Afterworld

Friends on the Other Side

"If I pass I'll get to my... Final Eternity?"

"No."

I deflate.

"No?"

"Completing the tasks successfully will transfer you to the next eternity. No searching required."

And he's gone.

And I'm alone.

I stand (have I really been on the floor this whole time?) and look around. Everything is disorienting right now, to say the least. The only people left in here are the bodies (mine and the shooter's) and dozens of policemen. They're all talking into radios, to each other, to the bodies. It's a confusing mass of indiscernible noise and talking.

What now?

I try to push things out of my brain for a while. Aisha. I want to find Aisha. She's my top priority now. Even if she can't know the same, I have to see if she's okay. At least safe.

I move through the swarm of detectives and cops to the main hallway. Kids are crying, consoling each other. Most are somber. There are a few who are joking. Maybe they don't know someone died. Maybe they don't care.

Aisha's petite face isn't in the crowd. I'm not sure where to start looking. With a counselor? Policemen? My parents? They may not even be here yet. They probably don't know that their daughter is dead.

I wander down the hall, scanning the sea of faces for Aisha's. For a long while, nothing happens. I simply resort to staring at people. A girl is sobbing into her boyfriend's arms. She was in the class I was. Some kids are joking around, but their eyes are full of tears. A football star is holding the hand of an autistic girl, Shylah. He's guiding her to a guidance counselor. A boy is staring into the crowd mutely. He catches my attention: he doesn't have any sorrow on his face, no confusion or shock. His face is simply blank, as if he'd been practicing this look for years. The only reason I notice him is because of that face. It stands out because it's crafted to be inconspicuous-- I've mastered that face as well.

He looks up, startling me out of my staring. I blush immediately, a splotchy red blush that I absolutely hate and that goes down to my toes. That's, of course, before I remember that he can't see me.

He's staring right at me, though.

I turn around to look behind me. Surely he must be looking at someone behind me? I glance behind me and look back. He's still staring right at me.

Suddenly he stands and begins walking in my direction. But I notice something: he isn't washed out in the blue tint like everyone else. He looks normal, real, like Reaper did.

He's standing a foot away from me now. Hazel eyes bore into my own from under a flop of curly brown hair.

Yep. He can see me.

"Are you alive?" He asks seriously.

"That's a complicated question," I answer.

"That's an ambiguous answer," he shoots back.

I shrug, conceding his point.

"Are you alive?" I finally ask.

"I... I don't think so."

I nod along as if everything makes sense. Then it dawns on me: there may be other dead people! While I really don't want other people to have died... we wouldn't be alone here.

"Are there other people like this?"

He stares at me for a few seconds before answering. "I don't think so."

"But there has to be! How many other people have died before? Billions, right? And some have to have died recently. So we aren't alone!"

He nods slowly as I talk.

"Yeah. Theres no way that were the only ones. I mean, I don't want anyone else to be dead or anything but..."

I agree silently, already looking around for other people who show signs of seeing us. We set off down the hall together before I remember what situation we're in.

"Oh," I whisper.

"Hm?"

"You died. Today?"

He's quiet for a moment. "Yeah. The shooter ran into my class. I think he was just shooting randomly. He... whoever it was nailed me in the chest. It took a while."

I glance at him and stop us in the hall.

"I'm sorry." He snorts. "No, I know that it's not the usual kind of death and I'm assuming I can't give you a condolence casserole or anything... But you died today. Probably left some people behind or whatever."

His face becomes the mask it was earlier. I don't comment on it.

"I'm Iris, by the way. Iris Tyler."

He perks up a bit and studies me.
"I know."

That catches me by surprise. "You... you know?"

"You're sorta popular." he winks.

Another full blush floods my system.

"I... I don't know your name."

He takes a moment to respond.

"What, don't you know your own name?" I tease.

"Graves. I'm Graves."

I roll my eyes. Hard. "Oh yeah? Since when have people called you that?"

"Since now."

"Mmhm."

We turn and walk down the hall again, taking in this strange situation.

"Did you see the scary death man, too?" He asks timidly.

"Yup."

"Did he spout stuff at you about trials?"

"Yeah. Did you understand that?"

He sighs. "Honestly, I'm still trying to wrap my head around this dead-but-aware thing."

We're quiet for a while, walking through kids and out the doors, lost in our thoughts.

"What if we don't find anyone else?" He asks after a while. We're milling about with everyone else in a parking lot two blocks from the school. Parents are just arriving.

I take a moment from my scanning to contemplate the question. My conclusion is frightening. Panic rises in my throat. "We'd be alone."

He's quiet before he replies, "We'd have each other."

I nod mutely, still fighting the panic from his question. He touches my shoulder lightly to stop us. I glance up at him for a moment. A soft smile is curving on his face, half amused and half sympathetic.

"What?" I ask a bit testily.

"Iris Tyler."

I stare for a moment, waiting.

"Will you be my friend?"

Welp. He's a cheese ball.

It's sort of adorable.
______________________________________________________
Author's Note
Hola! Thanks for reading! Today's song was Friend on the Other Side by Keith David and from The Princess and the Frog!